1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a laminated fabric and method of making same and more particularly to a laminated fabric having integral raised areas formed therein for simulating buttons, welts and the like.
2. Prior Art
Upholstery buttons are frequently used in order to enhance the appearance of upholstered furniture and the like. As will be described in greater detail below, the prior art upholstery buttons are typically pre-covered with an upholstery material such as vinyl and cloth. The pre-covered button is usually provided with an anchor for fastening the button to the upholstered object. In most instances, the button is pulled into the surface of the upholstered object by a cord or the like having one end tied to the button anchor and the other tied to a rigid frame member of the object.
The prior art upholstered buttons are limited in several respects. First, such buttons must be pre-covered and then installed on the upholstered object. This two-step process is time consuming and expensive. Second, it is often desirable to match the fabric used to pre-cover the button with the remainder of the upholstery fabric. If a patterned upholstery fabric is to be used, the buttons must be pre-covered with different materials depending upon where a particular button is to be attached to the upholstered object. The task of matching the pre-covered buttons to the upholstery fabric nessarily increases the cost of manufacturing an upholstered product, especially in mass-production applications.
Furniture, cushions and the like which are used outdoors and in marine applications must, of course, be resistant to water. In such application, a water repellent upholstery material such as vinyl is often used. As previously noted, the prior art pre-covered buttons are usually attached by a length of cord or the like which extends through the cover material. However, the opening in the cover material through which the cord passes will permit water to enter the upholstered object thereby causing damage.
Welts are also often added to upholstered articles for decorative purposes. A conventional welt is usually made by covering a length of flexible tubing with fabric and stitching the pre-covered tubing between the edges of two pieces of fabric so as to join the fabric pieces together. Thus, conventional welts are similar to pre-covered buttons inasmuch as the fabric must be matched. Similarly, several expensive and time-consuming steps are required to fabricate the welts and such conventional welts have some tendency to tear from the fabric, especially when subjected to hard use.
The invention disclosed herein overcomes the limitations of the prior art pre-covered buttons and welts. The laminated fabric and the integral button and/or welts are formed together at the same time rather than in two separate steps. Furthermore, fabric matching is not required since the material covering the integral button and/or welt is part of the same material which covers the remainder of the upholstered object. In addition, there are no openings in the subject laminated fabric which would permit water to enter the upholstered object. Finally, unlike the prior art pre-covered buttons, the subject integral button will remain secured to the upholstered object even if the cord or strap used to hold the button in a recessed position breaks. Similarly, the integral welt will have no tendency to tear from the fabric.